FC Dallas Protects 11 Players Ahead of 2018 MLS Expansion Draft

Major League Soccer announces all available players for selection in Expansion Draft

FRISCO – Major League Soccer announced today the list of players available for selection in the 2018 Expansion Draft. The Expansion Draft will provide an opportunity for expansion club FC Cincinnati to select up to five players from the eligible list, starting tomorrow at 1 p.m. CT. The list includes 255 available players.

Each current MLS club had the opportunity to protect 11 players from their 2018 roster. Generation adidas players (who did not graduate at the end of the 2018 season) and Homegrown Players on a club's off-budget roster are automatically protected and do not count against a team's 11 protected roster spots.

Designated Players are not automatically protected. If a Designated Player has a no trade clause in his contract, then the club must protect him in the Expansion Draft.

Seattle Sounders FC, Sporting Kansas City, the San Jose Earthquakes, Columbus Crew SC and Toronto FC are exempt from the 2018 Expansion Draft because they had players selected by the Los Angeles Football Club during the 2017 MLS Expansion Draft. FC Cincinnati will receive an additional sum of allocation money as compensation for five exempt teams in the MLS Expansion Draft.

For a club that has a player claimed from their unprotected roster, that team will receive $50,000 in General Allocation Money for the selection.